You Deserve Better
by ApricotKisses
Summary: Yolei has a crush on Ken but the chances are slim to nothing. Yolei goes into work one night and she sees Ken there. Kenyako. Completed
1. Accident Meeting

You deserve better 

Sixteen year old Yolei Inoue walked down the halls of Odaiba high school. The halls were packed right after the lunch bell . She was supposed to meet Kari in the cafeteria but at this rate she thought never get there. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped into somebody and fell onto the floor.

" Why don't you watch where you're going? " Yolei practically yelled. Even though she didn't know who she bumped into.

Ken picked up a purple folder and a math book with one hand and helped Yolei off the floor with the other " I'm sorry Yolei, that is your name right? I wasn't paying attention to where I was going"

Yolei looked at Ken.

"It's okay. I wasn't watching where I was going either"

Ken held out her folder and math book to Yolei , she took  
them from him

"Thanks" Yolei smiled " Be careful. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, now would we?" Ken said as he walked away.

He's so sweet, I wish he liked me. But he already has a girlfriend, that girl Lily. Even if he didn't have a girlfriend he'd still be out of my league.

Yolei walked into the cafeteria, she spotted Sora, Kari and Mimi sitting at their usual table.

"What I miss?" Yolei asked as she sat beside Mimi

"Mimi drooling over Matt. Kari drooling over TK.Basically, nothing new" Sora said which made Yolei laugh

"I'm not drooling over him, it just that he's so cute" Mimi said

"We're not like you Sora, we don't have a big serious relationship like you do" Kari said referring to Sora and Tai, they had been together for two years.

"I bumped into Ken today, cute as always" Yolei laughed

"You'll get over him Yolei, its just a stupid crush, its not serious" Sora said as she took a bite of a french fry

"Not as serious as you and Tai right?" Yolei teased. Sora threw what was left of her french fry at Yolei's head

"Hey guys, look over there " Mimi pointed to TK and Kari talking at a empty table

"When did she leave the table?" Yolei asked

"When you two were talking"

A couple of minutes later Kari walked back over to the table with a big smile on her face

"What did you do to keep your mouth open so wide?" Yolei teased

"TK asked me out, can you believe it? He asked me out"

"We get the message Kari" Yolei said.

Yolei got up and walked over to the line, and grabbed a tray, the line wasn't as long now

"What are you getting?"

"What are you doing? Following me?" Yolei said

" I would say yes, but you're behind me, meaning you're following me" Ken laughed

"Very funny" Yolei said as she put a sandwich on her tray

"Why are you following me?" Ken teased

Yolei put a small bag of chips and a can of pop on her tray and paid

"I'll see you around Yolei" Ken said as he picked up his tray

"Yeah see ya" Yolei said even though he had already got back to his table

Evening

"I told you, wear the black pants and ice blue sweater" Yolei told Kari over the phone

"Maybe I should wear the pink one"

"No wear the ice blue one"

"Fine, what do I do with my hair?"

"Whatever you want. I half to go I have to be at work by six okay? I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." Yolei said

"Bye"

Yolei and Kari hung up. Yolei grabbed a jacket and a small backpack from her closet and walked out of her bedroom . She walked to the front door and put her shoes

"I'm going to work now" Yolei yelled to her parents

"Okay see you later" her mother yelled

Why can't I get her out of my head, its not like I like her or anything or do I ? okay what am I thinking I don't like Yolei like that Ken thought as he walked over to his girlfriend lily's house

Finally he reached Lily's house he knocked on the door , Lily opened the door " You wanted to talk to me?" Ken said as he stepped into her house

Yolei walked into the small restaurant where she worked as a waitress

"Hey Katie, what table's are mine tonight" Yolei asked one of the other waitresses

"Tables three , four , nine , and two" Katie replied

"Thanks" Yolei said as she walked into the kitchen, she grabbed a T-shirt and apron from her backpack and walked into the staff bathroom and changed.She grabbed an elastic and put her hair in a tight ponytail and walked out of the bathroom.

"Yolei table four " Katie said to her

Yolei walked into the main part of the restaurant and saw TK and Kari sitting at table four. She walked over to the table "Hey I knew you guys, had a date tonight but why'd you come here ?" Yolei asked

"I thought waitresses asked for food orders, not why their customers are there" TK said sarcastically

"Very funny TK. How about menus and drinks to start off?"

"Two Pepsi's"

"Okay, I'll be back in a couple minutes" Yolei said as she walked away.

Yolei went and filled up two cups of Pepsi and grabbed two menus. She walked back over to the table that TK and Kari were sitting at.

"Here you go, I'll be back in a couple minutes to take your orders"

Yolei walked over to the cash register, a couple were waiting to pay their bill.

"That'll be $14. 56" The guy gave her the money , as soon as the couple left she saw Ken come through the door he looked like he was about to cry.

Yolei walked over to Katie "Can I take table six ?" Yolei asked noticing that's the table he sat at. "Sure, why ?" Katie asked "No reason" Yolei said as she walked over to the table.

"Ken what's wrong?"

okay I need some reviews for the next chapter, so please RR.  
and read my other fics please. I want some reviews for this please it only takes a minute of two, and I don't want reviews talking about punctuation, spelling and grammar please I know I'm not the best speller, so you don't have to tell me about it. And I'm not the best fanfiction writer but I try


	2. Have You Ever Been In Love?

You Deserve Better

Chapter 2

Yolei sat down next to Ken "Yolei? What are you doing here?" Ken smiled. There was something about her that made him smile. "I work here." Yolei showed him her name tag "See." Ken laughed "Then shouldn't you be working." Ken said. "I am working. Can I take your order?" Ken laughed "I'll have a hot chocolate " "Sure, I'll be right back."

She's so sweet and funny , unlike Lily. But she probably doesn't like me. There's no chance a girl like her would like me

"Sorry I took so long." Yolei smiled at TK and Kari. "What would you two like to eat?" Yolei got out her notepad.

"It's okay Yolei. I'll have this" TK pointed to something on the menu "Okay the name would've been better but I know what you're talking about" Yolei laughed "I'll just have large french fries" Kari said. "Okay I'll be back." Yolei said as she walked away "That's what you said the first time." TK teased

Yolei walked into the kitchen. "Here's an order Matt" a/n yes. Matt works there too Matt grabbed the order. "You wouldn't guess who's it is" Yolei said as she made Ken's hot chocolate. "Who's" Matt asked as she started the order "Kari and TK's" Yolei laughed. "Finally, My brother's had a crush on her for like forever" Matt laughed

Yolei walked back over to Ken's table "Here's your hot chocolate" Yolei put the cup into front of Ken. "Thanks" Ken took a drink. "Is something wrong, because when you first came in, you seemed pretty upset" Yolei asked. "Its nothing, it doesn't matter" Ken looked away. "I think, deep inside you want to tell me. And when you finally decide to, I'll be there for you kay? " Yolei got up from the chair and walked away.

"Here's the order Yolei" Matt passed her the two plates. "Thanks Matt." Yolei took the two plates from Matt and walked over to the table TK and Kari were sitting at. "Here you go guys, enjoy "Yolei put the plates in front of them "Thanks Yolei"

Ken walked over to the till. Yolei walked over to where Ken was standing. "That'll be $1.75 "Yolei said. Ken gave her a five dollar bill, he couldn't help but notice a sign on the wall. "Ken, when you come back to earth, Here's your change" Yolei passed him the change. "Oh, sorry." Ken said. " wanna go for a walk or something." Ken asked. "Sure, just hold on a minute"

Yolei walked over to Katie. "Can I have a favor? you owe me one" Yolei asked her. "So, you owe me like a dozen favors." Katie replied.  
"I'll work your shift tomorrow, just let me off now." Yolei begged "Fine, but you owe me" Katie smiled. "Thank you. Thank you so much"

Yolei walked back over to Ken "Let's go"

Ken and Yolei walked out the door. They walked all the way to the public playground before they said anything. They sat on the swings in the children's area, then Ken broke the silence.

"Have you ever been I love Yolei ?"

Yeah with you, Yolei felt like yelling loud enough so everyone in Odaiba could hear

"No, how about you? "

"I was, up until today. She broke up with me"

"Lily right?"

"Right, come on you've never been in love ?"Ken teased

"Leave me alone." Yolei laughed "How'd you two break up, I mean you seemed like the perfect couple"

"We weren't the perfect couple, And about the breakup she was cheating on me so eventually I would've found out anyway."

"You deserve better Ken, and it'll take you a while to find her but it'll be worth it " Yolei said as she got up and starting walking away.

Ken stayed there for a couple minutes before walking home.

Ken fell asleep with Yolei's voice replaying in his head.

I know really short chapter, I promise the next chapter will be longer.and the next chapter will be out much quicker

Feedback tell me what you think cuz I need to know what I have to fix, plus I don't know how to end this fic so ppl e-mail me ideas on how to end this. I have a couple ideas but they're no good Review please ppl


	3. Closing

You Deserve Better

"I thought you didn't work today. Why are you getting ready for work?" Yolei's sisterMomoe asked.

"Because when I left early last night, Katie took over for me, so I have to take her shift tonight." Yolei replied as she threw clothes out of her dresser drawer.

"Why did you leave work?"Momoe asked as one of Yolei's T-shirts landed on her head, she quickly pulled it off her head and started folding it.

"None of your business, Momoe" Yolei said in a rather annoyed voice.

"Is it a boy?"Momoe asked curiously as she looked up from the magazine she was reading.

Yolei stayed silent as she looked through her dresser drawer.

"Yolei has a boyfriend" She teased.

"He's not my boyfriend" Yolei yelled.

Momoe burst into a fit of giggles. "So it is a boy" Momoe smiled.  
"Is he like you high school crush" she laughed again.

"Momoe, he's not a crush, he's...... he's-" Yolei looked back into her closet. "Never mind, it's not important" She said as she picked up a blue and black sweater.

"He's the boy you're in love with"Momoe pretended to look dreamily into space, before she started to laugh again.

That pretty much explains it. Yolei thought to herself.

"I've got to go to work Momoe" Yolei put the sweater on and grabbed a jean jacket "So you have to get out of my room." Yolei said as she grabbedMomoe's wrist and pulled her out of the room.

Yolei grabbed her shoes and sat on the couch.

"So who is he?" Momoe asked

"Remember Ken Ichijoji?" Yolei asked as she tied her shoelace.

"Yeah, blue hair, right?" Momoe asked

"Yes, that's him well last night Ken came to the restaurant, and it turns out he broke up with his girlfriend" She said as tied her other shoelace.

"And with his girlfriend out of the picture, you can be with him right?"Momoe asked.

"You watch too much TV" Yolei said before she closed the door.

Yolei walked into the restaurant she took off her jacket. And walked over to the till, they had a piece of paper that said who had which tables that night.

"Table six......table seven..... table three....... Table....one........ and table five...." Yolei said quietly to herself

"I'll take table five if you want"

Yolei recognized the voice, she turned around to see ken standing there.

"Ken, what are you doing here?" She asked

"I work here" Ken pointed to the name tag. "See"

Ken and Yolei started laughing. "Why would you get a job here" Yolei asked.

"I could use the extra cash and you're here" Ken said as he picked up a pen and a calculator to figure out the total cost of the cheque he had in his hand.

"Big deal if I'm here" Yolei said as she put on her apron.

"We're on close-up" Ken said as put the total on the cheque.

"Okay"

Yolei looked at her watch.

"Ten after nine" Yolei said to herself.

Ken put up another chair. "Can you help me?"

"Sure" Yolei put the broom against the wall

"What did you mean by and your her" Yolei said as she put up another chair

"You are fun to have around, that's all. Well you're funny and-"Ken was cut off by a large crash. "What Happened?" He asked about to laugh, He sat down beside Yolei, who was sitting on the floor.

"I dropped a chair on my toe" Yolei laughed

"Are you okay?" Ken laughed.

"I think I broke my toe." Yolei said in a three year-old voice.

Ken burst out laughing.

"Shut-up" Yolei smiled.

Ken went closer and kissed her, Yolei didn't expect it. She felt the kiss deepen, not knowing what to do, she quickly pulled away.

"I'm sorry.......... I have to go..... home" She stuttered . She quickly got up, put on her shoes, grabbed her jacket and ran out the door.

Ken just sat there, sort of confused by her reaction.


	4. Back to the swings

You Deserve Better

"--And then he kissed me" Yolei finished telling Kari all of what happened.

"What did you do?" Kari asked.

"I told him I had to leave, I didn't know what to do." Yolei explained.

"You ran away?" Kari surprisingly asked.

Yolei grabbed one of Kari's pale purple pillows and put it over her head. "I didn't know what to do." Yolei said.

"Are you going to talk to Ken about it?" Kari asked pulling one of her pillows onto her lap.

"No." Yolei said. She sat up and looked at Kari "Please do not talk to him, Kari, please?"

"Fine" Kari said then sighed.

"Thank you" Yolei said as she put her head on the wall.

They heard a bang on the door. Kari practically screamed. Yolei started laughing.

"Kari, one of your friends is on the phone." Tai said laughing because of Kari's scream.

"What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"Kari said to Tai.

"What are you trying to do? , Break our eardrums perhaps?" Tai laughed

Kari and Yolei walked over to the kitchen. "He scared the hell out of me" Kari laughed, She picked up the phone.

"Hello" Kari said as she motioned to Yolei to sit at the table.

"Hello, is Yolei there? I really need to talk to her"

"Ken how did you get my number?" Kari asked

Yolei looked at Kari when she heard Ken's name. Kari shrugged her shoulders and mouthed I don't know.

"From TK, anyway can I talk to Yolei?" Ken asked.

"You want to talk to Yolei?" Kari asked, Yolei eyes got wide, She shook her head.

"Here I'll put her on" Kari passed the phone to Yolei.

"Kari" she hissed.

"You would've talked to him sooner or later" Kari whispered.

"Hi Ken , if you're mad about close-up , I'll take your next shift for it" Yolei said.

"No, it not that can you meet me at the swings in about fifteen minutes?" Ken asked.

"Sure, same place as last time?"

"Yeah, at the public playground"

"Sure, I'll see you there" Yolei hung up.

Kari looked anxiously at Yolei. "So?" Kari asked.

"I've have to go meet Ken, Be back in about and hour" Yolei said staring at her watch.

"What? Why? Where?" Kari said following Kari over to the door.

"Kari, You sound like a news reporter" She said as she put her sweater on.

"Tell me later, I want all the details of everything" Kari pointed at Yolei.

"Fine, see ya later"

Yolei walked out the door.

I wonder why he wants to talk to me Yolei thought aloud

She reached the park to see Ken sitting on the same swing he was on last time.

She walked over to him , she was a little nervous.

"Ken, you wanted to talk to me?" Yolei sat on the swing beside him.


	5. Lily?

You Deserve Better

"Ken, you wanted to talk to me?" Yolei sat on the swing beside him.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Yolei asked Ken could tell he was also nervous.

"I ...... uh ..... Remember earlier when you cut me off by dropping a chair on your toe?" Ken asked nervously.

"Yeah why?" Yolei asked. She looked around her.

"What?" Ken asked when he noticed Yolei's attention was elsewhere.

"I thought I heard something." She looked back at Ken. "Go on"

"Well what I was trying to say is........." Ken started but was cut off by a voice behind him.

"Ken, there you are" Ken recognized the voice.

Ken and Yolei turned around and saw Lily, She walked over to them.

"I've been looking everywhere for you." She said.

Yolei got off the swing. "I... I've got to go" She said quickly before running off.

"What's wrong with her?" Lily laughed.

"Nothing." He said in an angry tone of voice. "Why were you looking for me? You're my ex-girlfriend" He said before walking away.

Monday Morning.

Ken walked over to his locker, Yolei's locker was four lockers to the right, he closed his locker to see Yolei standing at her locker.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

Yolei grabbed her notebook. "No" She said slamming her locker and walking off .

Ken sighed and went back to his locker. "Hey Ken" Lily said from beside him.

He slammed his locker and started walking away.

"Ken listen" She yelled to him.

Ken turned around to face lily "Why do you keep following me, You're my EX- girlfriend" He yelled, now everyone in the hall was watching them.

"But Ken I thought......." Lily started

"Lily, the problem is you didn't think. You broke up with me and told me you had feelings for somebody else. Then a few days later you come crying back well what you didn't notice, Is that I have feelings for someone else." Ken yelled

"What you mean that four-eyes purple hair freak you work with?" Lily laughed . " Come on you could find a better girl"

"I did find a better girl, a better girl then you. " Ken said then walked off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Lily walked into the opposite direction.

Kari ran into the Cafeteria and over to her and her friend's usual table.

"You won't believe what just happened" Kari said sitting down

"Well tell us, don't just sit there" Mimi said

Kari started telling Yolei, Sora and Mimi what happened.

Ken walked into the cafeteria he started walking to his table.

"I saw what happened" Matt said as he sat down beside Ken.

"I heard what happened" Tai said.

"Do you guys know where Yolei sits?" Ken asked "I need to talk to her"

TK pointed to the Table. "Thank you" Ken said, he went over to the table.

"Yolei can I talk to you" he said quickly

"I guess" Yolei got up slowly. They walked far enough away from the table so the girls couldn't hear them.

" I heard about what happened" Yolei said.

"Do you want to go to the Valentine's day dance with me?" Ken asked.

"What?" She asked, laughing.

"I'm serious." he said smiling.

"No you're not." She said laughing even more.

"I am." He said

"I guess." Yolei laughed. " When is it?" she asked.

"This Thursday, see ya then."

"See you tonight, we're on close-up" She laughed

"Okay, but no chairs near you." Ken laughed. He kissed her quickly. "See ya tonight."

"Yeah see ya" Yolei said watching ken walk away.


	6. Preparation

You Deserve Better

Chapter 6

Lily took a sip of her Pepsi and placed it back on the cafeteria table she was sitting at.

"I can not believe this, I'm gone for like, two days or so and he's claiming that he's in 'love' with that stupid freak over there." Lily looked over where Yolei and Kari were, at their usual table laughing and joking like usual.

"She looks as if somebody poured grape juice all over her head or her hair stylist was high while doing her hair" Lily laughed.

"I don't think she even goes to a stylist" Another girl, Crystal, said.

"I'm going to end this, This Thursday. At the Valentine's Day Dance. Ken will be going out with me again. Like he should be. He will arrive with her, but leave with me" Lily smiled at her friends. "I have a plan that just might work..." Her friends moved in closer to hear her.

"What are you wearing to the dance?" Yolei asked.

"Don't know, do you? Kari said.

"Well, I have nothing, Wanna go to the mall after school?"

"Like I have anything better to do, besides anything is better than sitting at home with Tai" Kari laughed.

"We can't stay to long though, I work at seven."

At The Mall

"This One is cute, it suits you." Kari said picking up a small dark blue dress and showing it to Yolei.

"I don't look good in blue." Yolei said, she walked over to another rack of dresses, silently looking to find the perfect dress. She looked over at Kari, picking up a dress holding it up to her body staring at her reflection in mirror looking it over. She made a weird face then threw on top of the rack, grabbing another one, doing the same process as before.

Yolei flipped through the rack, pushing back dress after dress. Looked down at her watch. An hour and Fifteen minutes left to find a dress. She thought.

Kari walked over to Yolei holding a red dress in her hand.

Yolei looked up at her friend. "Finally decided on a dress?" Yolei asked looking back down at the dresses.

"No, not yet. But you have to try this on, it would look good on you".

Yolei looked at the dress, it was a red long dress, that would probably reach her ankles, two slits that would reach her knees, and it had spaghetti straps,

"Ken would probably like it." Kari said handing the dress to Yolei.

"Fine, I'll try it on." Yolei said heading towards the change rooms.

Seven minutes later

"Come on Yolei, I wanna see how it looks." Kari yelled to Yolei , who refused to come out of the change room.

"No. I looks stupid." Yolei yelled back staring at her reflection in the mirror

"Come on, it can't look that bad, after all I was the one how picked it out, it should look great"

"Fine, But you can not laugh, if you do, I'll kill you and tell TK you missed the dance because you went on vacation." Yolei walked out of the small change room.

"Yolei, you look great. You should buy it." Kari said as soon as she got a good look at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure."

Yolei went back into the change room, changed back into her jeans and black button up shirt, she walked over to Kari, who was repeating the same process as she did earlier.

"Now all we have to do is find a dress for me" Kari said holding up a dress.

Yolei sighed. " This could take a while" She said smiling.

"Shut up" Kari laughed.

Yolei walked into the restaurant, she was fifteen minutes early. It was busy, which was surprising since it was Monday.

Ken came up to Yolei and kissed her. "I am so glad you came early, Katie and Jake called in sick, so we all have extra tables, which wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't so busy, I want to put that subject aside for just a second, Did you find a dress yet?"

"Yeah, I found a dress, its at my house and you can't see it until Thursday" Yolei smiled.

"The sheet is over there, it says who has what tables, we're on close-up so we can talk later" He said, kissing her on the cheek before running back into the kitchen.

Yolei walked over to the counter. "Hi Sarah." She said to the girl at the register as she looked over the sheet, seeing which tables she had tonight.

'Hi Yolei." The girl said quickly as she got change out of the register and passed to the man in front of her. " Go to table six and four, for me, I'm busy over here" she said.

Yolei walked over to table six, only to see Lily and her friends sitting there.

Oh great, this is the last thing I need. She thought.

"About time we got some service." Lily said in her usual perky, but irritating voice.

Yolei got her notepad and pencil out of her pocket. " What would you like?"

Ken watched Yolei he could tell that she was getting annoyed by the girls kept changing their mind about what they wanted to order,

Yolei walked into the kitchen .

"Its really busy today" Yolei said passing the order to Matt.

"I noticed" Matt said as he looked over the order.. "What's with all the eraser marks?"

"Lily and her friends kept changing their orders to annoy me"

"Lily? That's the girl Ken broke up with to be with you, right?" Matt asked.  
2

"Yes, I love the sound of that " Yolei laughed.

Yolei walked out of the kitchen and over to the table, where Lily and her friends were sitting passed out the drinks. As soon as Yolei walked over to the table, Lily hung up a small silver cell phone, as if she didn't want Yolei to hear something.

Yolei walked over to Ken and placed her head on his shoulder. "when will this night be over?" She complained.

Ken looked up at the clock . "In an hour and a half, but we're on close-up"

"I need a break" Yolei complained.

"Then take a break" Ken said, he saw a customer enter the restaurant. "After you take care of that customer" He said sorting out a bunch of cheques.

"You're so mean to me." Yolei laughed.

Yolei walked over to the table, where a blond haired boy was sitting.

"What would you like?" She asked.

"Hi Yolei" He said


	7. Lily and Willis

You Deserve Better

Chapter 7

"How do know my name?" Yolei asked the blond stranger.

"We've met before. It's all right if you don't remember me, and you have a name tag that shows your name."

"I'm sorry, we've met before?" She placed the notepad and the pen on the table, she hadn't the slightest idea of who this person might be.

"I'm Willis. I helped you and your friends' get to Colorado a few years ago."

"Willis what are you doing here ?" Yolei sat on the chair across from him, not knowing Ken was staring at them, a glint of hate was in his eyes as Willis spoke to Yolei.

"I came here to eat."

"Oh right" Yolei replied nervously, suddenly remembering that she was still working and why he had come to the restaurant. . "I'm sorry about that." Yolei grabbed for the notepad.

"That's okay." Willis grabbing the notepad away from her reach. "I'll do it." He began to write his order.

"Are you done yet." Yolei asked attempting to grab the notepad. He pulled it further away from her.

He gave the notepad to her. "Now go get me my food." He teased

Yolei smiled as she walked into the kitchen. She passed the order to Matt.

"Messy handwriting." He said looking at the bunch of scribbles that made up a word.

"It's not my writing." She told him.

"Does this say hamburger?" Matt asked.

"I don't know." Yolei laughed , looking closely at the writing. "Let's just say it does."

"Okay, works for me." Matt said. "Take these out, they're in my way." He pointed to four plates, each containing a salad prepared a different way. This order belonged to Lily and her friends. She grabbed two of the plates and walked back out of the kitchen.

Yolei placed the plates in front of Kali and Miki. "Thanks." Miki said quietly. Kali and Lily both shot looks in her direction. "Where is mine and Lily's ?" Justine asked.

"It's coming." Yolei replied. Lily smirked.

Yolei returned to the kitchen to get the other plates. " I hate her." Yolei muttered as she picked up the two plates.

Matt looked up. "Did you say something?"

Yolei shook her head as she carried the two plates out of the kitchen. She placed the plates in front of Justine and Lily.

"Thank you." Justine said rudely, showing she hadn't meant what she said.

Yolei remembered Ken told her to take the break, she walked over to him.

"What are you doing." He asked stapling a cheque and receipt together.

"Taking my break." Yolei leaned against the wall.

"Lily and her friends giving you a hard time?"

"Sort of." She looked back over at the table.

"Just ignore her." Ken told her. "Eventually they'll get bored and leave you alone."

Yolei nodded, although ignoring her was harder than Ken thought. Yolei's break was cut short by Matt who called her into the kitchen to get the order for Willis.

"It's over there." He pointed to the plate of food.

If Yolei had one wish, it would be to end that night right then and there, but it was impossible. She took the plate of food and took it to Willis.

"Do you have ketchup?" Willis asked when the plate was placed in front of him. Yolei left again and returned with the bottle of ketchup he had requested.

"How about mustard ?" He laughed at the annoyed look on her face when he asked for two more condiments after that, but Yolei got the last laugh when Willis accidentally spilled the relish on his white shirt.

Eventually Lily and her friends had finished their salads and left the restaurant. Yolei felt a hint of jealousy when Lily had attempted to flirt with Ken at the cash register, but Ken brushed her off and Lily left insulted and angry.

That was one less person to bug Yolei, but there was still Willis, who had refilled his drink almost five times and was loitering around. The clock's hands pointed out that it was nine o' clock, which was closing time.

"We're closing up Willis." Willis looked up as Yolei spoke. "You don't have to go home, but you have to get out here. "

"I could set up camp y'know and stay the night here." He smiled as she collected the dirty plate off his table.

"Come on, you have to go." Yolei said.

"I'm going, I'm going."

They both walked over to the register, Yolei smiled at the assortment of smiley faces he had scribbled on the cheque.

He passed her the correct amount of money. "Thanks."

Yolei noticed that Ken had already started to put up chairs, something she didn't like to do after accidentally dropping one on her toe. So she picked up the broom that was resting against the wall and started to sweep the floor.

"So who was he?" Ken asked, Yolei hadn't picked up the hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Who?" Yolei asked.

"The blond one, he knew you, didn't he?" That time Yolei had picked up the jealousy that was dripping of his words.

"Are you talking about Willis. He was the one who helped us to get Colorado, a few years ago. He must be in Japan for-" She stopped talking there. Why was Willis in Japan? "some reason."

"I don't remember this." He said as the chair he was putting up dropped with a loud 'thud ' as it dropped to the table.

"You were still the Digimon Emperor." Yolei said quietly. The only noise in the room was the broom brushing across the floor.

Ken had gone silent, apparently he had been trying hard to erase that from his memory. The next few minutes went by without any words, the silence was making Yolei nervous.

"Well," Ken said, looking around the restaurant. "I think we're done here for the night. Come on, I'll walk you home."

They both grabbed their own belongings, locked the doors and then left the restaurant.

"You don't like him, do you?" Ken asked her.

"No, of course not, I like you, Ken. Not Willis." Yolei said, trying to assure him there was nothing to be jealous about. She didn't like Willis, but Ken was stubborn and hard to convince.

Ken looked up at the many lights coming from Yolei's apartment building, then turned to her. "Yolei, can you promise me something?"

"Anything, what is it?"

"That you won't let Willis to close, that you won't let him come in between us."

Yolei thought for a minute, she felt like saying the same thing about Lily, but she didn't.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before entering her apartment building.

"Promise."

Yolei walked into her Geography classroom a few minutes early, it was the last class of the day. She took the empty seat at the back of the room beside Kari. "Did you get what we needed for our project?" Kari asked. They had been assigned to do a project on another country, they were allowed partners so naturally they chose to work together. They had chosen Canada.

"Yeah, I went on the Internet last night and found some more information about the Confederation."

"Great, I printed off some maps in the library and -" Kari stopped to dig a few maps out of her backpack. "This one is the world map, with Canada highlighted. Another one with the four original provinces and this one has the railway track." The areas she mentioned had been colored with a bright pink highlighter.

They discussed their project further, until the geography teacher Mrs. Parker entered the room with an unfamiliar student behind her. Mrs. Parker took a seat at her own desk and sent the student to an empty desk.

"We have a new student, his name is Willis." The students looked around the room until they found the new and unfamiliar student. "Please get acquainted after class, as we have two presentations to get through today."

Kari looked over at Yolei. "What's he doing here, in Japan?" She whispered Yolei.

"I don't know but he came to the restaurant last night." Yolei whispered back.

A group of three people, two girls named Katie and Paige along with a boy named Jared went up to the front of the room to present their project on Mexico.

The girl named Katie started to read her notes. " The history of Mexico."

This was going to be a long class.

The dismissal bell rang and students rushed out of their classrooms.

"We should go see why Willis is in Japan." Kari said to Yolei when they exited the Geography classroom. "He is our friend, sort of. It would be rude not to at least say hi."

Yolei smiled at her friend. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have a crush on him."

"Shut-up Yolei. I don't like him."

They walked further down the hall to Yolei's locker where she grabbed things out of it and stuffed them into her backpack. "When are we presenting our project?" Yolei asked Kari, but she never got an answer because Willis had walked over.

"Hi Yolei. Hey Kari, I haven't seen you in forever." Willis said.

"So what made you come to visit?" Kari asked. Yolei who had now closed her locker was listening too.

" My mom, she sent me to stay with my uncle and aunt for awhile, until September actually. My aunt chose this school because my cousin goes here, I had no idea you guys would be here too. Are Davis, TK and Cody here too?"

"Yeah, everyone except Cody, he starts here in September."

"Who's your cousin?" Yolei asked as she slung her heavy backpack over her shoulder.

"You might know her, her name's Lily."


	8. You Deseve Better

Author's Notes- At the beginning of the fic it states Yolei as being sixteen, even though Ken is supposed to be a year younger I made them the same age. 

You Deserve Better

Chapter 8

"I just can't believe they're related. I mean, Lily is so mean and Willis is really--" Kari began to say.

"Nice." Yolei finished the sentence for her. It was true, Yolei had noticed it too. Lily was really snobby and mean to those she thought 'beneath her' and acted better than everyone else. Willis, on the other hand was nice, down to earth and accepted everyone, Yolei had even seen him have a conversation with a boy that, by Lily and her friends, had been labeled a 'geek'.

"Exactly. At least Willis doesn't act like a-Glue."

Yolei looked away from the computer screen. "What?"

"Glue. I need glue, this thing won't stay down." Kari said.

Yolei dug around in the desk drawer until she found a glue stick. It turned out that their Geography project was to be presented the next day. Obviously, they weren't done and rushed over to Yolei's apartment to finish it, making a mess of the living room in the process. The curse of procrastination.

Kari, being the more balanced and organized of the two, was arranging the project on several pieces of bristle board, making sure that all notes that were needed were at hand. Maps, notes without page numbers, and other random things that needed to be organized were handed to Kari. Yolei, being the computer whiz that she is, spent most of her time on the computer, she typed out research and notes and print things off the Internet that could easily score them some bonus points. She edited, spell-checked, and grammar-checked before and after she printed it off.

For most of the work being done the night before the due date, the project was looking fairly well. Aside from the fact that one of Kari's maps would stay glued to the bristle board, and the phone kept ringing every five minutes everything was going smoothly.

"Where is everybody?" A voice asked. It was Mantarou, Yolei's older brother.

"Great." Yolei muttered sarcastically.

"Where's mom and dad?" He asked, grabbing a carton of milk out of the fridge and drinking from it.

"Down in the store. Why?"

He walked over to Kari and Yolei. "I need some money. What are you doing?" He asked, looking at the computer screen.

"Would you please-" Kari said trying to pull a piece of bristle board out from under Mantarou's feet. "Get off."

"Oh, sorry." He said stepping off of the bristle board Kari had been working on for almost an hour. "What is all this stuff?"

"It's for our geography project." Yolei said. "And we're trying to work on it, so if wouldn't mind getting lost, it would really help."

"Alright, alright, I know where I'm not wanted. I'll see you later Yolei."

"Bye." Yolei said, not bothering to look away from the computer screen until she heard the front door shut.

"He is so annoying."

"Hey, it's staying now." Kari said. Yolei looked over, the corner of the map was staying down now, Kari brushed away a little dirt that had come off of Mantarou's shoe. "Perfect."

Yolei laughed. "You're crazy."

"As long as it doesn't pop up again I'm happy." Kari laughed and grabbed another piece of bristle board to start gluing stuff again. "Do you think Willis is going to the dance?"

"I don't know." Yolei said. "What about TK?"

"That's not what I'm saying, Yolei. I never said I didn't want to go with TK, I'm just wondering what you think. Do you think he'll go?"

"Maybe." Yolei replied. "If he does, I'll bet you anything that he'll go with one of Lily's friends."

"Probably. " Kari said as she picked up another map to glue onto the bristle board. "What do you think we're going to get on our project."

"We're definitely going to fail."

Kari laughed. "No kidding."

"I cannot believe we actually passed." Yolei said as she went to open her locker. Despite the fact that they did most of the work the night before, they managed to pass with a B-.

"Well, we could have done better." Kari said, the evaluation sheet in her hand. " We got a two out of five for eye contact."

"Well, I can't keep eye contact with twenty-three people at a time." Yolei said, shoving her math book in her bag.

"Neither can I." Kari said. "Voice clarity/speed/volume, four out of six."

"Not too bad." Yolei shrugged as she attempted to fit her science binder into her bag.

"Not bad at all, the group that did Mexico only got a two."

"Well, they also got an A Kari." Yolei said as she closed her locker carefully so the mess that remained inside didn't jump out at her.

"Good point." Kari said, as they started to walk down the hall. "I talked to Nicole in my art class, Willis is going to the dance with one of Lily's friends."

"Which one?"

"Miki Verbinski."

"The quiet one?" They exited the school.

"Yeah, with the short hair, Lily put them together. "

"Isn't that your mom over there?" Yolei asked, opening a small bag of chips she had got from the vending machine at lunch.

"What?" Kari asked, confused. Yolei pointed out the car. "I told her I was walking. Oh well, I'll see you at the dance later."

"Meet me at the vending machine." Yolei called out as Kari ran to the car.

Yolei gave her self one final look in the mirror, of course every time she went for that final look she found something wrong with her reflection. Lipstick on her teeth, a hair out of place, the list was endless. Yolei's sister did her hair, a complicated hairstyle that she copied out of a beauty magazine. Yolei complained about the bobby pins pinching and poking her head and it took her about two minutes to ruin it by moving the bobby pins causing the hair on one side of her head to be up, the other side down. After a second attempt at a fancy hairstyle, Yolei got frustrated, gave up and left her hair down. Her make-up was simple, a coat of mascara and a lip gloss Yolei kept licking off because she said it tasted good, causing her to re-apply every two minutes.

Ken was picking her up at six forty-five the dance started at seven. So Yolei kept her eyes on the clock, six-fifteen, six- sixteen, six-seventeen, "A watched pot never cooks." Her sister repeated as Yolei continued to state her theory that time was not moving. At twenty after she looked at every clock in the house and twenty-three after claimed they were all broken.

When the doorbell finally rang Yolei had started to get nervous. Although she told herself she looked fine she couldn't help thinking about how Lily would show up in a dress that cost at least three times as much as the one Yolei was wearing.

Yolei opened the door, any negative thoughts she had about her appearance, the dance, that whole night were abandoned when she saw Ken. He was wearing black pants, a black button up shirt and a navy tie that Yolei noticed matched his hair. She remembered that she had Ken, the one thing that Lily wanted. "You look beautiful." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, Yolei blushed not only because of what he said but because she knew her sisters were watching her. But she didn't care what her sisters were thinking or what Lily would think when they arrived, Ken thought she was beautiful, that was enough for her.

They arrived on time, it didn't take long for them to get to the school because Ken had his own car. Since Yolei had promised to meet Kari at the vending machine they headed there first.

Ken stared absentmindedly out the window, watching for any sign of Kari or TK. "Damn it." Yolei said in an irritated voice as she hit the machine with her fist, Ken looked at her, confused. "The machine ate my money. "

Ken laughed and walked over. He pushed the coin return button, it didn't work. "Here." He gave her a few coins. "Now wait a minute, then put the money in." Yolei did what he said. "Go ahead."

"Okay, A1." Yolei muttered as she pressed the buttons. She got her chips.

"Press the coin return three times." Ken said. Yolei gave him a skeptical look but did what he said. In the coin return slot, she got back all the money they had just put in.

"How did you do that?" Yolei asked, as she scooped up the change. "I must have lost at least fifty dollars to this machine."

"I took a computer class here the summer before fifth grade. Mr. Guerrero showed me how to do it. "

Lily walked past them with her date, she cast a cold glare at Yolei but she didn't notice because Kari had walked up with TK. "Sorry, we're late." Tk said.

"That's all right." Yolei said.

They all went to the gym. Wall to wall, there were decorations, everything in the gym seemed to be either pink, red or white. The lights were dimmed giving all the white streamers and balloons a blue tint, there were tons of balloons and every once in a while one of popped. There were tables with light purple tablecloths, there were tiny candles in the middle of each table but none of them were lit.

"They really went all out this year, didn't they?." TK muttered.

"Yeah." Yolei nodded in agreement.

After a few dances, the four of them sat down at a table. When Willis and Miki entered, Willis gave a small smile and Yolei smiled back, still listening to Ken's story. Willis and Miki went to the table where Lily, Justine and Kali were sitting with their dates.

"Let' s go get something to eat." Kari said to Yolei.

"Alright."

There were all sorts of snacks, chips, fruit, brownies, cream puffs and there were all sorts of drinks; pop, juice, milk, punch.

"Punch looks good." Kari said.

"Keep in mind, it has probably already been spiked." Yolei reminded her.

"Good point." Kari said and reached for a can of Pepsi. After filling two small plates to the top with as much brownies, cupcakes, cream puffs, and chocolates as the plates could hold, they headed back to the table.

Yolei looked at her watch, it was quarter after nine. The dance ended at ten. Kari opened her second Pepsi as Mimi joined them. "Having fun, girls?" She laughed as she sat down in an empty chair beside Yolei absentmindedly wondered if Mimi had any of the punch or not.

"Where's your date?" Kari asked.

"Somebody spiked the punch, he had a little too much, his friends are taking him home. Where's yours?" She asked, taking a cream puff off of Yolei's plate. Yolei had no objection, she was stuffed anyway.

"TK went to go talk to someone on the basketball team, Ken went with him."

"Where's Sora and Tai?" Mimi asked, looking around as if Tai and Sora were going to some out of nowhere as she said that. "I haven't seen them."

"They had other plans, I can't remember the name of the restaurant." Kari replied.

Sora had mentioned something to Yolei, she was about to say the name of the restaurant but someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around.

"Yolei, can we talk to you for a minute?" It was Miki Verbinski, one of Lily's friends, and Willis. Why would they want to talk to me? Yolei thought. "Sure, I guess so."

Yolei got up from her chair. "Be back in a moment." Yolei told Kari and Mimi, they looked just as confused as Yolei was.

Miki and Willis led Yolei to an empty table. They all sat down, Willis picked up some empty plates and pop cans that were on the table and threw them in the garbage.

Yolei looked at Willis and Miki, who were looking at each other as if to say 'You do it' "Look, I'm sure you didn't call me over her to name a winner of your staring contest so could you, please, tell me what this is about?"

"All right." Miki started. "Lily has this plan and it involves all of us, pretty much. All of us are playing some kind of role in this-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but what is this about?" Yolei asked.

"Lily." Willis said. "She wants Ken back."

"Basically, we're all doing something but it's all for the same purpose-" Miki said.

"To keep you and Ken apart long enough for Lily to move in. Believe me, this is not part of Lily's plan; Us, telling you like this but we wanted to tell you."

"So you could stop Lily from doing whatever she plans on doing. She never told us exactly what, just to keep you apart. Justine and Kali were supposed to do something to get Ken away from you. They got some people from around school outside to hang out and eventually they persuaded someone to go get Ken and Kari's date, TK. They thought it would suspicious if only Ken came." Miki told her, and Willis started from where she left off.

"Once Ken and Tk were outside, Lily joined everyone else and sent us in here to distract you. Not like this, of course. I was supposed to take over where Ken left you and Miki was supposed to cause a scene."

Yolei could not believe what she was hearing. She didn't believe a word. This was probably something Lily was making them do for a laugh. "Is this why you came to the restaurant last night?" Willis nodded.

"She's been planning this for days." Miki said. "If you don't believe us, go find her, she probably had Ken alone now."

"Yolei, we don't want to see you get hurt." Willis said.

Yolei got up and pushed her chair in. She felt like laughing, and the same time, crying. Was Lily just trying to be cruel? Was Lily expecting Yolei to take this seriously and embarrass herself for her own amusement? Did she hate Yolei that much? They were trying so hard to be convincing, they thought the story through.

Of course as Yolei walked back to the table, she began to think differently about it. It did seem to make sense and Lily did seem to want Ken back. When she got to the table, instead of sitting down, she looked at Kari, "Did Ken and Tk, by any chance, mention where they were going?"

"No, some friends came and got them. Why?" Kari replied.

"No reason." Yolei said. "I'm going for a walk, just around the halls. I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit." Kari said but by the time she replied, Yolei was already walking away.

Yolei looked out the first window she saw, she looked to see if she could see any sign of anybody outside. Nothing. She walked down the hall a little bit, she could hear the soft clicking of her heels on the floor. Yolei looked outside again, she saw people. Justine and Kali were there, she could just make out TK amongst the people. Then she got a little worried, she didn't see Ken or Lily. Were they telling the truth?

Yolei walked through that one hallway, back and forth, she found it sort of weird to be in the school after it was closed. She walked upstairs, to the second floor. Was she really looking for Ken and Lily? Did she really believe what they had said? No, of course not. Until she did find them, exactly like Willis and Miki said. Close together, alone, they weren't kissing but they were talking, faces close, she couldn't hear them, she didn't need to. Yolei looked away, tears forming. She couldn't even look at them. What was she supposed to do? For a moment, she froze. She wasn't the type to walk over there and tell him off, she didn't have the guts for that. Of course, she couldn't stay there.

Yolei started to run, she wasn't sure where she was going. She didn't care, actually. She didn't care that she had just ditched her friends, she didn't care that she left her jacket and purse back there, she didn't care what people thought of her after running out like that. But she cared about him. She always had, but now she didn't want to.

It was just a game . Yolei told herself. Something they thought up when they were bored, a joke. They just happened to pick me for their prank. Yolei should have noticed it right when it started. Should have saw it from the beginning. She should have known something like this would happen. He didn't care about her, he was leading her on. He was only trying to get Lily back. He was only using me, Yolei thought, and I let him. Well, he got what he wanted. Lily.

Yolei stopped. She was running but she wasn't getting anywhere. She was at the swings, quite far from the school, but nor away from him. They seemed to always end up here, at these swings. But not this time, it was just her here now. She sat down, facing the opposite direction of the school. She heard something behind her.

"Yolei?" Ken. What could he possibly want? Yolei thought.

"Go away." Her voice was weak and cracked, she wanted to cry but she couldn't, not in front of him. Letting Ken see her cry was like giving him a reward for winning his game. Look, you used her and you hurt her.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, making no movements to walk towards her or away from her.

Yolei wiped her eyes with her bare arm, a black smear appeared on her wrist, mascara. "Go away."

"Whatever you think you saw-" Ken began.

Yolei regained her voice long enough to reply. "I know what I saw." She said, then wiped her face off again, tears and mascara, a mixture on her wrist. She looked at him. "You were just using me."

"That's insane, Yolei. I would never-"

"But you did, Ken. You used me, to get her back."

"If I wanted Lily, would I be here?" Ken asked.

Yolei didn't say anything, he was right. If this was all a game, if he wanted Lily, why was he here? Why was he here, trying to talk to her? Why wasn't he with Lily?

"Look, I don't know what they're telling you, I don't know what you saw, what you think you saw but you haven't heard my side of this." Ken paused, waiting to hear something from Yolei. She remained silent. "I did care about Lily. I did, and she broke my heart. And you were there, you always had been really. The one time before that when I lost my cool, you put me back in focus. Do you remember that? Since Sam, I didn't have someone that I could depend on, and then you were there."

Still, Yolei said nothing.

"When Lily and I broke up, you were there. You said to me that I deserved better. And you know what, you were right. Lily came to me the other day, she wanted me back. Do you know what I told her?" Ken asked, taking a seat on the swing beside her.

Yolei shook her head, she wiped her tears on her arm again.

"I told her that I had found a better girl than her, I told her I had feelings for you."

"You said that?" Yolei asked, she was no longer crying. A small smile crept to her lips, she found this somehow odd. Ken would rather be with her than be with Lily. It just seemed that if most people were given a choice, they would have chosen perfection over something less.

Ken nodded. "Lily told me that I could do better than this, I could find a better girl. But I couldn't, it doesn't get much better than this. "


End file.
